Thanks! It’s a specific use case - since the lockdowns I’ve been stuck with gaming only on my work laptop. Which means no Steam - although I can install other direct downloads oddly enough. Still, other games like Rimworld have found the model successful.

So as part of the ‘next step’ analysis as we prepare for the EA release, I made a ‘decision map’ of some of the ways a player could solve a problem in AotSS. Obviously, we want the player to have a lot of freedom when they are trying to get things done, and I wanted to show just how much choice the player has. This is a decision map of a fairly common issue in AotSS - a system governor won’t participate in the supply network. Here is a partial decision map of what you could do in response: Keep in mind this is not a complete list, just some of the more obvious things:

How to Get a System Governor to rejoin the supply network:

Intimidate him

Use Intimidation Skill

Use Military Force

Use Oppress Planet mission

Use Bombard Planet mission

Use Pressure

Ask Province Governor to pressure them

Ask House Leader to pressure them

Use Inquisitors (Special Ops)

Blackmail him

Kill him

Intimidate him

Steal from his personal treasury

Investigate him if he is part of a Plot, and if he is, arrest and exile or kill him

Reduce his power so that he is forced to agree

Issue a Public Challenge

Threaten him publicly

Call out his performance publicly

Reduce the class of his system (adding classes to systems and provinces – S,A,B,C,D – the higher class, the more Power the governor has)

Encourage migration out of the system

Terraform other planets

Colonize new systems nearby to encourage migration out

Create a new province one Constellation over

Install poor Viceroys who can drive the planet into the ground and cause Pops to leave

Close down the Imperial Logistical Network so people can’t travel and trade can’t happen (economy will start to decay and people will be pissed)

Build a System Project that will be beneficial to his system (and possibly improve its rank)

Give him a gift

Get to know him

Invite him to join your House

This may require lowering the Power of his House, which is a whole new topic!

Heal him if he his sick (this will also help your relations with the House)

Assist in his current goal (money, power, helping a friend, etc)

Raise his standing within the Empire

Give a praising speech

Support him publicly

Include him on a Project as a Project Leader

Help his system become more profitable (governors get taxes from their systems)

Help his friends out (by doing the above)

Hurt his enemies

Any of the above techniques will work

Build up his system by improving his planets and improving the system rank

Use brute force

Take the system back through a hostile Claim

Take the system back by conquering the system capital militarily

Invade the planet with ground troops and destroy all orbiting Forces

Exile the governor

Send Inquisitors to the planet to cause Fear on the planet

Ferment unrest on the capital planet

Use Inquisitors to stir up unrest (incite populace mission)

Use Inquisitors to steal food and energy supplies to cause blackouts/starvation on the capital

Possible end goal is an uprising that kills the viceroy and/or the system governor, but this solution has its own issues as you can probably tell

Reduce the Power of his House, thus reducing his own Power (Power is derived in part from the strength of the character’s House)

Take away planets/systems

Defeat them militarily

Humiliate/challenge the House Leader

Use Events to weaken a House

This is really its own topic, but these are some top-level examples

Use an economic solution

Move the province hub to another system if possible, taking the system out of the supply network as a primary hub

Request that more Academies be built on the capital planet, which will cause more Farmers to go to school to retrain for more efficient Pops like merchants, engineers, etc. This will eventually cause the Farmer supply to drop and the planet will start to run a net negative on food. Starvation is a very powerful tool to get a viceroy/governor back in line

Roll over like a dog

Use ‘Beg For Peace’ to beg the governor to do what you ask (this is very humiliating and causes a substantial loss of power, but it is effective)

Give up and use another strategy

And more!

As you can see, savvy players will have a field day with the possibilities. And keep in mind that this does not include repercussions to their House, their friends/enemies, their planet/system, etc. These are just options that you can take. Deciding which is the best for your situation is part of the fun of AotSS!